Disclaimer: I don't have permission to be doing this.
Author's Note (7/26/2006): I'm spoiling all y'all, really, I am. But I figured, hey, I've got this all typed up, I might as well post it now rather than later as a bit of a thank you to everyone's tremendous support. I'd like to thank all of my proofreaders. Your input was very valuable and for those of you who saw an earlier version, I only took out a few things so I guess you don't have to read it if you don't want to…
Anyway, hope you enjoy it. I finally decided to put commentary on all this, even though I originally intended it to merely be narrative…it just seemed right. Sorry about how long it is…
Dearest Robyn: I like to laugh at a lot of Whitney's comments. She's a funny lass. I'll try not to scare you with my talent… -laughs- I shouldn't reply to these at one in the morning. That reminds me of Moulin Rouge. Good movie, that. Anyway, thanks for your support!
DaraNatalia: Ha, you're funny. That was my alter ego that came up with her, if you must know, so technically, she's mine. And yes, she's a bit different… I would like to have her the same, but Katie's not here to help me with that. –sniffle- Thank you so very much for your help and your proofreading and your constructive criticism! You've watched my back and kept me safe more than once.
Annie: I agree. It's taken years of practice to get into Jack's character, an' I'm still slightly off. Pity I'm not Johnny Depp's niece or something. I'd totally call him up and get some input. Thank you for the encouragement!
Lightning: Hey! I know you! Long time no talk to! (Understatement of the year) I, personally, am a great fan of Jack/Ana… I once knew a girl who role played Ana very well. And…I'm not so sure she's dead. She's not aboard the Pearl when Jack is talking about the drawing of a key. I think she probably did get her ship…but I'd like to know what happened. She was one of my favorites. You'll probably notice a few similarities to my old fanfic, Lightning, that you gave me so many wonderful pointers on so long ago… I only hope I don't disappoint ya. Thank you for your constant support. Dunno where I'd be without you.
Daisy: You win again. Guess you get some dark chocolate M&Ms. An' it should. But not as familiar as this chapter should be… (I couldn't sleep in the heat, if you're wondering why I'm updating so late at night after I said I was going to bed.) And…shhh. No one's supposed to know that. Thank you.
Chapter Three: The Beginning
Pearl smiled slightly and took Jack's hand, leading him outside of his quarters and up above to the quarterdeck. She pointed towards the helm, where a most peculiar thing was happening. Jack could see Saint Kitts as she appeared on maps. The closer he looked, the closer the picture got to where he'd been born. Amazingly, it zoomed in on his very house. "So we jus' watch it?" he questioned, looking back at Pearl.
"Not exactly," Pearl replied as she touched the helm. It pulled them inside of the moving picture. When Jack opened his eyes again, he had the most curious sensation that he was both reading the story of his birth while watching it as he and Pearl floated around, pulled about by whatever it was the story was saying. "Now we watch it," she announced.
To say it was raining was rather understating the truth. The citizens of Saint Kitts hadn't seen a storm this brutal in many years. It was just the start of hurricane season and this storm had hit rather unexpectedly. Even the old codgers sitting and rocking on their front porches had been caught unawares. Generally, before a storm as turbulent as this hit, someone's knee or lumbago would act up. The animals, generally good at sensing danger, were going about their daily business of living when the wind and rain started battering the entire island. Only the foolish and worried were still outside as the storm plastered the frigid rain to everything in sight. The sea was starting to creep its way up onto the shore, towards a row of houses.
There was quite the commotion in one of the houses near the rising sea. It was the largest house in the area, built by the extraordinarily wealthy Richard Smith for his wife when she kept complaining about the long walk down from their first plantation to the sea. The only reason that Richard had acquiesced was that she was finally carrying a child and he didn't want to risk losing it. Richard had long been hoping for an heir over the past few years of marriage to the beauty Rosalyn, but they had so far been unfruitful. It certainly wasn't some sort of problem on Richard's part, for he had many illegitimate children from his various mistresses, but certainly an annoyance. The reason he'd married Rosalyn was because of her beauty. He'd just assumed she'd be a good child-bearer, though her hips were a bit small and she seemed to be in delicate health most of the time. She often complained of headaches. As a result, they'd lived in near civility together until about nine moths ago. Something had happened that gave Rosalyn an attractive spark to her large doe eyes that spurned Richard into insisting they try once more. The result was what had the house in such an uproar.
"Milady! You need to be lying down!" a rather stern maid exclaimed, trying to grab Rosalyn's delicate wrist to lead her back to her chambers.
Jack seemed to be rather excited, suddenly, when he spotted his mother. The picture suddenly stopped moving as Jack looked at Pearl and said, "That's me mum!"
"I know," Pearl replied, with a soft laugh. "I told you we were going to see the beginning."
"I jus' assumed I'd watch me being born or something," Jack admitted, with a shrug. "Guess I was wrong. How much are we goin' t' see?"
"Up until the beginning. You need to understand what was going on when you were born, since you weren't actually able to see it while it was going on."
"Ah." Jack sighed slightly, glancing at the three-dimensional representation of his mother. "How does it start again?"
Pearl put a finger to her full lips. As soon as they were both quiet, the scene started up once more.
Rosalyn did not answer, turning to stare at the maid with such hatred the poor servant would have instantly caught fire, if such a thing were possible. She resembled a mad woman. Her normally shining ebony hair was frazzled and ratted about from all the thrashing she'd been doing while lying on that accursed bed. Her face was pale and she had a sheen of sweat all over her nearly translucent skin. "Don't touch me!" she whispered dangerously before shuffling towards the door leading to the main entrance of the lavish house. She was very much with child, so it was difficult to walk, but she'd had enough of that bed.
The maid frowned and sighed. She should have known that Mistress Smith would be such a pain during her labor. She'd been a docile and pampered pet, a doll that her father and then her husband had enjoyed dressing up, until about nine months ago. Susan had heard of pregnancy changing women, but this change had been rather remarkable indeed. Rosalyn started going outside and spending time in the sun, though she used to enjoy boasting her delicate complexion had never been touched by any ray of the great glowing orb. She used to enjoy gossiping and would often spread stories with very little basis in truth, but now she always seemed to be daydreaming as she stared out her bedroom window at the sea. She also enjoyed the water. Susan had been Rosalyn's maid since she'd gotten married and she'd never seen Rosalyn so much as look at the sea, and now she seemed in love with it. Something had to have happened during that pirate raid. It was as though Rosalyn realized she wasn't an invalid as her father had claimed and decided she wanted to enjoy life. Susan secretly thought that Rosalyn had nearly been killed by one of those dreadful men and realized she'd never really lived. As a result, she'd decided to become as annoying as possible. She couldn't be certain, of course, because she'd been knocked out by a pirate with an axe while trying to protect the silver. No one was really sure what happened after that, because Rosalyn would never say.
Rosalyn quickly made her way to the front door and stepped outside, even though she was barefoot and only just starting to develop calluses on the soles of her feet after years of inactivity. Susan loyally followed her, muttering something under her breath. The baby just had to choose to be born early, didn't it?
"Where is he?" Rosalyn questioned, barely audible above the roar of the wind. Her light blue chemise was already drenched and her hair fell in dark wet strands that whipped her in the face.
"Inside!" Susan yelled, wrongly assuming she was asking about Richard. Normally, Richard was out in the fields at this time of day, making sure the sugar production was going to meet its quota again. It was customary to keep men from knowing anything about childbirth, so he was pacing in the library on the second floor.
Rosalyn appeared not to hear, going towards the encroaching ocean and standing in it for a moment. Suddenly, she hunched over as a blinding pain enveloped her whole body. She felt as though she were dying.
Suddenly, Susan's arm was over her shoulder. "Come, milady," she urged, shepherding Rosalyn towards the house. "You can't give birth out here in a storm like this!"
"Figures that I'd be born in a storm," Jack commented, with a slight laugh. "Susan, when I was little, always told me tha' I was as difficult as the day I'd been born. Maybe she was right."
Rosalyn put up as fierce a struggle as she could manage to while in so much pain. It wasn't all that magnificent, but she did at least try. "No, no no!" she screamed as Susan brought her inside and several of the other servants rushed forward. "Let me go!"
"Come along, milady," Susan insisted as the servants easily picked Rosalyn up.
Rosalyn feebly struggled, though her face was still contorted in pain. She wanted to walk around, wanted to wait and stay by the sea…but the servants won and she was soon back inside her bedchambers. They didn't want to disturb Richard as he paced around his library and hoped all went well. Most women died giving birth and Richard was worried that Rosalyn might not survive. Not because he particularly loved her, of course, but she was generally very easy on the eyes and a good distraction, on occasion, even if her upkeep was quite a lot.
Susan shooed the other servants out of the room except for Kaya. The aging servant had been with Rosalyn since the woman had been born and was really the only one that never was on the receiving end of her tantrums. Had she not been so bent over by age, she would've fetched Rosalyn herself. Ignoring Rosalyn's cries of pain, Susan looked at Kaya. "What now?"
"We wait," came Kaya's kindly, wizened voice. She glanced over at Rosalyn, who appeared to be crying. "You go an' get some water boiling, Susan," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," Susan replied, relieved that she had an excuse to leave the room. Kaya was trying to teach her to take her place in the family, but it wasn't taking. Susan couldn't stand Rosalyn. She practically ran out of the room to do as she'd been asked.
Kaya hobbled over to the bed where Rosalyn was trying to stand once more. "Lay down, chile," she commanded, putting her wrinkled brown hand on Rosalyn's milky white one. Rosalyn obediently did as Kaya asked. "Wha's got you in such a state?"
Rosalyn looked away, apparently ashamed to answer. "Nothing," she lied, rather unsuccessfully.
Kaya frowned, making her face resemble some breed of pudgy dog. She seemed to triple the amount of wrinkles on her well worn face when she did so.
Rosalyn sighed. "Fine." She glanced towards her windows, which were covered by curtains. "He's not here."
"He's upstairs, chile." Kaya grabbed a wet rag from a basin near the bed and started cleaning Rosalyn's dirty face.
"He said he'd come back," Rosalyn continued with a slightly grateful smile.
"Who said dat?" Kaya asked, only halfway paying attention.
Rosalyn's dark eyes had a dreamy look to them as she gently cradled her large belly. "The father."
"He's upstairs, chile," Kaya repeated, a slight frown on her face. Had Rosalyn lost her mind?
Rosalyn laughed at that, an odd, high-pitched laugh that didn't seem natural. "No he isn't. He left and he said he'd be back and I've been waiting for him every day since then."
Sometimes Kaya wished that Peter Mark had not agreed to Rosalyn being married at thirteen. She still seemed a child of that age, though she'd been married for nearly six years. Must be terrible to be cursed with such beauty and such a nice dowry. "De child's father is upstairs, chile. Dat was just a dream."
"No it wasn't," Rosalyn said sharply, nearly sitting up again before another contraction hit. She was quiet for a moment, her face pale as Kaya gently continued to clean her face. "My baby's father is a pirate. He's a member of the Order of the Brethren and he said he loved me and would come back for me and that I needed to keep a weather eye open for his return. Handsome man. Best pirate in the world." Her voice was low and almost a moan.
Jack chuckled softly. "I've used tha' line before, I'm ashamed to admit."
Pearl looked at Jack curiously for a moment. "Why?"
"Well, sophisticated ladies generally don't like being ravished by a man unless 'e's said he loves her. Then they're more than eager to spend quality time wiv you. Din' realize that they actually believed it…or that Mum was so naïve."
Kaya gasped, her hand dropping the rag on Rosalyn's pillow. She stared at her mistress for a moment and then suddenly slapped the woman as hard as she could. "Stupid chile!"
Rosalyn's eyes welled with tears as a white handprint appeared on her suddenly red cheek. That quickly turned to anger. She was a spoiled brat who had never been seriously reprimanded. "Kaya!" She looked very ready to start yelling at the old woman, intending to insult her to the point of tears like she did with all the other servants that said things she didn't like. Before she could start, a very large contraction hit her and she screamed.
"Be a woman an' shut up," Kaya said sharply, one hand pressed to her ear as the other stuffed the wet rag into Rosalyn's open mouth. "Otherwise, you'll give us all a bad name. Loud 'nough to be heard over de storm for miles."
Jack glanced over at Pearl. "Does it really hurt that much?" he asked, looking rather curious.
"What makes you think I know?" Pearl asked with a slight laugh. "I'm a ship, remember?" She glanced at the frozen Rosalyn for a moment. "Based on the look on her face, yes."
Rosalyn glared at the old shrew, but did stop screaming and pulled the rag out of her mouth. "It hurts," she said defensively.
"An' you thought it'd be as fun bringing de baby into de world as it was creatin' it?" Kaya laughed. "Sorry, chile, you'll never know such pain anywhere else."
"Is it fun creating babies?" Pearl asked suddenly as Jack chuckled, a thoughtful expression on her face as she looked at Jack. "I've often wondered that. It has to be, or why else would women have children?"
Jack stared at Pearl for a moment. "Oh…right. You are a ship. Yes. It is. I can give you a demonstration, if you'd like."
Pearl grinned mischievously and nodded. "I would. But, unfortunately, not right now."
Jack sighed slightly, rather frustrated, now. Maybe he was just going to have to spend the rest of his afterlife around beautiful women that didn't want to spend any quality time alone with him… What a miserable existence! "I'll hold you to that," he proclaimed, trying to not look disappointed.
"I'm looking forward to it." Pearl grinned and touched his hand briefly before going silent. Jack followed suit.
Rosalyn frowned and bit her lip until the pain passed. "Why did you slap me?"
"Don' tell nobody dat de Master is not de father," Kaya warned. "You'll lose what you have. De pirate will not come back."
Rosalyn's eyes widened in disbelief. "He will come back, he promised," she gaped.
"Him was lying, chile," Kaya insisted. "Dem pirates can't love any woman. Only de sea." She looked slightly understanding of Rosalyn's situation. The woman had fallen in love with the idea of an escape to her monotonous life. It was a common occurrence in young women. Eventually, she would realize what a fool she'd been and would settle for what she had.
"He loves me," Rosalyn whispered, trying not to cry again. She didn't want to be stuck living with Richard for the rest of her life, not when there was a pirate out there that loved her!
Kaya softened a bit, sensing that if she didn't, it would be a very long night. "A man'd be daft to come into de port at a time like dis, chile. You don'worry about him. You're having a baby."
"I know that," Rosalyn snapped irritably, glancing towards the door. She sighed softly. "I guess a man would have to be daft to head into a storm like this." She adopted Kaya's view as her own in order to make this ordeal easier.
The door opened and Susan stepped in with several cloths draped on her arm and a large pot of steaming water in her hands. "Is it time?" she asked, eyeing Rosalyn curiously because she just so happened to not be trying to bolt out of the door.
"Nearly," Kaya replied with a grunt, all hints of softness gone. "What took ya so long?"
"I'd like to see you carry boiling water across the house and not spill it during a storm," Susan remarked dryly. "We'll see how fast you're going." She was in a rather bad mood. Excusably so, of course, because nobody likes going outside during the middle of a hurricane to fetch a madwoman.
"Ah," was all Kaya said in response, leaning against the wall near Rosalyn's headboard on her large bed. She was exhausted already, and the baby hadn't even come. This could potentially be a long night.
"How long does this generally take?" Rosalyn asked miserably when her latest contraction passed. The pain was blindingly excruciating. If a man were to go through something half as painful, he'd be passed out by now.
"Depends," Kaya said with a grunt. "Some babies come faster'n others. You took nearly a full day t' come."
Rosalyn paled, sickened at the thought of it taking so long, and Susan snickered. "Welcome to womanhood," she remarked derisively.
"Get it out of me!" Rosalyn pleaded. "Just take a knife and cut it out. It would hurt less and then I wouldn't have to-" She stopped, a curious look on her face. "I'm wet."
"Well, you stupidly went out into the middle of the storm, of course you're-"
"No, I know…" Rosalyn sighed. "Susan, get me a glass of water, I need water."
Susan quickly rushed out of the room, glad for a chance to escape again. The most painful part of the whole process was coming up and she'd be glad if she didn't have to hear the screams.
"Lock the door," Rosalyn hissed at Kaya. "I don't want Susan in here. The baby's coming."
Kaya stared at Rosalyn for a moment, wondering if her mistress really had lost her mind. She did hobble to the door and locked it by pressing a chair underneath the doorknob. "Why?" she asked as she came back.
Rosalyn didn't answer. She had a look of intense concentration on her face. Apparently she'd started bearing down naturally without any sort of prompting from Kaya at all. The older woman checked her progress and was rather amazed to see that Rosalyn was right. The baby was coming, and rather fast. Quickly, she grabbed a few cloths and some scissors, practically catching the little boy as he came out. Richard Smith's household had just welcomed a son into the world, a son that could carry the Smith name in pride.
"Was I really that ugly?" Jack asked as he carefully observed himself, rather disgusted by how red he was and how misshaped his head was. He stuck his tongue out slightly in disgust as he leaned in to further examine the miniature version of him. It was hard to see how he'd become so handsome and debonair. Yet another indication, to him, at least, that all children were ugly despite what their parents thought until they grew out of the infant stage.
"Yes," Pearl replied, pulling a slight face. She looked rather ill. Having been a ship, she'd never seen a birth take place. It wasn't something she ever wanted to see again.
"Hmmm…" Jack sighed slightly. "I guess that's the only way a baby could fit through, though…me head isn't shaped like that now."
"Thank goodness," Pearl remarked, glancing away from the small baby in Kaya's arms. "Shall we move on?"
"Sure. Where to next?" Jack asked as he glanced away from himself.
"I believe the next major event was when your sister was born…so, we're heading to around that time."
